Two young basketball referees from Goulburn are set to continue blazing a trail for female officials.
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Rylee Bowles and Kaitlyn Neate were among the nine NSW referees named to officiate at the upcoming Australian Under 14s Club Championships in Melbourne.
The pair's selection continues a trend which began in early 2020, when they were the first locals to referee a national competition in roughly 30 years.
Steve Ruddell, a former referee program manager for NSW who has mentored Bowles and Neate, said the selection was a momentous achievement for both women, and he hopes they can use the experience to progress their careers even further.
"Hopefully they'll go well [in Melbourne], then next year they can get Under 16s and the following year Under 18s," Ruddell said.
"They've just got to keep working hard and doing what they're doing. And obviously this is a huge boost for women in sport."
For two women who are still in the early stages of their careers, to excel in a field like umpiring is a remarkable achievement.
Their success, Ruddell said, can be attributed in no small part to their maturity.
"They're both mature young ladies and take pride in what they do on the court," he said.
"What happens on the court stays on the court, they're not judgemental of someone who plays up. They treat each game as a different game.
"They have integrity, and they're also good communicators. Being able to deal with stressful situations as well is a useful attribute."
Both Bowles and Neate have made steady progressions over the last 18 months, and now regularly officiate in the Youth League competition in which the Goulburn Bears men's team plays.
Similarly, both are working towards their state badge, which used to be known as a Level Two badge.
"There hasn't been anyone in Goulburn achieve that badge since myself in the mid-90s," Ruddell said.
"It's been a long time between drinks."
The Australian Under 14s Championships will take place from September 27 to October 2 at Casey Stadium in the Cranbourne East suburb of Melbourne.
Along with its nine referees, Basketball NSW will send 10 teams to take part in the tournament. The competition format will see 24 girls teams and 24 boys teams split into six pools of four.
The championship will be played in a round robin format, with the top two teams from each division to compete in the Championship Division and the bottom two to play in the Shield Division.
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